1992: May 24-30

Cover: Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown)

Living in the Seventies
Despite the Seventies being the era of ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’, All Together Now star Jon English confesses that he can look back on that era without too much embarrassment, insisting that he never played up to the image of a high-profile actor-singer during that period.  “I was never into that sex and drugs thing, to tell you the truth,” he told TV Week.  “In the bulk of the Seventies I was appearing in the theatre eight times a week (in Jesus Christ Superstar).  I watched everything in that era from the edge of the stage.”  Meanwhile English’s co-star Rebecca Gibney admits that as a teenager in the that era (“14 trying to be 25”, she said) she was a big fan of the rock performer.  “I wrote to Jon once but he never replied,” she said.  “I loved his music, had his albums and went to his concerts.”  The Nine Network sitcom has adopted a retro theme for this week’s episode as the show’s characters stage a Seventies-style “sit-in” while re-living the Woodstock era.

Long-distance romance?
They might be rivals in children’s television and working in different cities, but Melbourne-based Saturday At Rick’s co-host Lochie Daddo and Brisbane-based Saturday Disney’s Sofie Formica (pictured) are denying reports that they are romantically linked.  “Just good friends,” Daddo told TV Week.  “I ended up doing a pilot for an afternoon show in Brisbane for Ten.  We went out for dinner one night.  It was like a blind date.  The next four or five weeks, for some reason or another, I was up there nearly every weekend for work.  So I saw a lot of Sofie.  We are still very good friends.”  Daddo has recently joined Saturday At Rick’s following his first professional acting role in an episode of All Together Now.  “As a result of All Together Now, I was a guest on Rick’s,” he said.  “Then they said, ‘Do you want to do the show?’.“  Meanwhile, Formica has recently returned from Turkey where she was an Australian delegate at the European Broadcasting Union’s international workshop for children’s television presenters, and has since started a new role as host of Seven’s children’s quiz show Now You See It.

The hair of the wog!
Acropolis Now’s self-styled beauty queen Effie (Mary Coustas, pictured near right) and friend Sophie (Sheryl Munks) have decided that the cafe’s resident career woman Suzanna Martin (Nicki Wendt, far right) is in dire need of assistance.  “Suzanna looks like the ‘before’ lady on the shampoo commercial,” Effie told TV Week.  “She’s got very fine hairs.  I want to give her a good root perm, which will stuff up her hairs for five years.”

Briefly…
Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s Daryl Somers has been busy working on two additional projects.  The first is a series of one-hour specials, The Best (And Worst) Of Red Faces, highlighting some of the acts to have appeared on the mock talent quest segment since it started back in the early 1980s.  “It’s been a huge job for everyone involved, endeavouring to find every segment ever done – the oldest piece dates back to 1982,” he told TV Week.  The second project is a movie to star the team from Hey Hey It’s Saturday, to be filmed in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Late last year, Home And Away star Dee Smart (pictured) described working on the series as being like a prison sentence.  (“It feels like I’ve been there for years,” she said at the time)  Now it seems her desire to be written out of the show will be realised with producer Andrew Howie agreeing to let her go in July.  Her departure could lead to some challenging times for the soap, which recently celebrated 1000 episodes, with co-stars Nicolle Dickson and Bruce Roberts also contemplating leaving.

E Street’s Brooke ‘Mikey’ Anderson has been dumped from the series 10 weeks before her contract was due to expire.  The young star, who had been in the series since it started three years ago, has already starting filming a guest role in rival series A Country Practice.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”It wasn’t until the Seven Network ran Blackadder back-to-back with Fast Forward that the Rowan Atkinson series gained anything more than a cult following in this country.  Unfortunately, the series was long gone before an audience large enough to be commercially viable had starting lamenting it.  The ABC, however, grabbed the rub-off advantage and screened the first series of the more recent Atkinson creation, Mr Bean.  Be warned.  A second Bean series is now set to premiere.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 24-30):
Sunday:  Actor, dancer and choreographer Paul Mercurio and colleague Kim Walker are guests on this week’s Sunday Afternoon With Peter Ross (ABC).  Network Ten presents the second series final on New Faces With Bert Newton, while Nine’s Our World documentary series features Adventure Bound with Alby Mangels.  Anne Phelan is a guest star on comedy series Late For School (Ten).  Sunday night movies are Masquerade (Seven), The Freshman (Nine) and Voices Within: The Lives Of Truddi Chase (Ten).  ABC’s late night series Compass features the story of religious academic John Hull, who documented his experiences as his sight gradually deteriorated from the age of 17 to middle-age when he became completely blind.

Monday:  This week’s Six Pack (SBS) feature is Loulla, a story set in the 1950s of the arrival of an unexpectedly glamorous proxy bride from Greece to a rural backwater in Australia, starring Lenita Vangellis.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Amanda Keller tastes the grain that could feed the Third World, while Tracey Curro investigates the treatment that’s forcing cancer to mature.  Seven later presents a delayed telecast of the AFL State Of Origin match between Victoria and Western Australia from the MCG.  In Chances (Nine), Bambi Shute’s (Abigail, pictured) sex show is a hit.  ABC presents the series return of comedy DAAS Kapital, featuring the Doug Anthony All-Stars.

Wednesday:  ABC presents The Comedy Festival Debate: Is Laughter Better Than Sex? – featuring Michael Corton, Brett Jones, Steve Crabb, Jane Clifton, Andrew Denton and H. G. Nelson and chaired by Campbell McComas.  The first of three one-hour specials of The Best (And Worst) Of Red Faces appears on Nine.

Thursday:  In Nine’s new travel series Getaway, Rebecca Harris tours the Blue Mountains on a Harley Davidson, David Reyne goes diving at Dunk Island and guest reporter, former Sale Of The Century hostess Delvene Delaney presents a tour of Byron Bay.

Friday:  John Waters (pictured) hosts ABC’s new ten-part series The Bush’s Australian Sheepdog Challenge.  Late night sport includes delayed coverage of the Winfield Rugby League Cup (Nine) and the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge (Ten).

Saturday:  Nine begins its coverage of the French Open tennis, live from Roland Garros Centre, Paris, with commentators John Newcombe, Tony Trabert and Betsy Nagelson.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  23 May 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: May 10-16

‘I want to go home!’
Neighbours star Melissa Bell has said there was one simple reason for her controversial move from Melbourne to Network Ten’s other soap E Street, which is based in Sydney.  “The main reason I am going home is to be close to my family,” she told TV Week.  “I’ve missed them so much.  My last phone bill was more than $1000.. Telecom must love me!”  Moving to Sydney will also bring Bell (pictured with new co-star Bruce Samazan) closer to Jason Redlich, son of E Street producer Forrest Redlich, although she stresses that while they are good friends they are not romantically linked as previous reports have suggested.  “He is a special friend and I missed him, too.”  Her pending departure from Neighbours has thrown storylines into a spin, particularly as producers had planned a major romance between her character Lucy Robinson and Brad Willis (Scott Michaelson).  But despite feeling homesick in Melbourne, Bell has acknowledged her time in Neighbours as a very positive experience.  “If it wasn’t for Neighbours, I wouldn’t be where I am and have the exposure it’s given me.  Everyone made me feel so welcome.  I’ve really loved working with Anne Haddy and Alan Dale especially.  I’m going back to Sydney with so much experience, work-wise and personally.  Moving to Melbourne has made me a better, stronger person.”

Rachel gets a taste of the outback
British-born actress Rachel Ward, wife of Australian actor Bryan Brown, is a special guest reporter in this week’s debut of Nine’s new travel show Getaway.  Ward and her two children, Matilda and Rosie, embarked on a two-day trek in the Alice Springs area as a feature report on the new series.  “The idea of the harsh, red centre full of rock and desert seems so much part of the Australian tradition.  I wanted the girls to experience it,” said Ward, who also found she didn’t mind eating witchetty grubs but wasn’t so keen on the kangaroo tail. 

Hey, happy birthday!
Seven Network sitcom Hey Dad! is celebrating a milestone 200 episodes, but one of the show’s original cast members, teenager Sarah Monahan (pictured) admits there has been a downside.  “It was hard to keep friends at school.  They seemed to have the attitude, ‘Hey you weren’t here’, so you can get left out of everything.  In years five and six, I was going to school only two-and-a-half days a week, so the kids would really hassle me,” she said.

Briefly…
ABC’s travel series Holiday, which gained a popular following on Saturday nights up against ratings giant Hey Hey It’s Saturday, is now set to take on the even more competitive Sunday 7.30pm timeslot, up against 60 Minutes, Full House, Dinosaurs, The Simpsons and Late For School.

Home And Away star Bruce Roberts (pictured) is believed to be planning to quit the series when his contract runs out later this year.  The young star, who plays policeman Nick Parrish, isn’t happy working on the show and is keen to move on.

Speculation continues that former Good Morning Australia co-host Kerri-Anne Kennerley could be set to jump ship from Network Ten to either the Seven or Nine networks.  Network executives David Leckie from Nine and Glen Kinging from Seven are said to have been trying to contact Kennerley while she was overseas recently.

Play School’s popular characters Bananas In Pyjamas have been given their own series.  The bananas, B1 and B2, will soon feature in a series of 40 five-minute episodes to screen in the 3.55pm weekday timeslot (between Sesame Street and Play School) from July.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here:
”I have seen only one program in the series, but congratulations to the Australian Children’s Television Foundation on Lift Off, now screening on ABC.  This is dazzling kids’ entertainment centred on many an educational and environmental message, and the sheer creativity behind it all is – to use a word popular among the age group at which it is aimed – awesome.  If you don’t get a chance to watch it with your kids – or anyone’s kids – first time around, it is to be rescheduled later in a timeslot more accessible to more people.”

”Having bleated last week about the fragmented scheduling of the British series The Darling Buds Of May, it is now my duty to report that the series will be seen on HSV7 in Melbourne on Saturday nights from this week.  The series is already screening in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 10-16):
Sunday:  ABC presents early morning coverage (from 4.45am) of the first race in the America’s Cup, live from San Diego, USA – with subsequent races covered early on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  Sunday night movies are Driving Miss Daisy (Seven), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (Nine) and Lock Up (Ten), up against SBS’ delayed telecast of the Eurovision Song Contest from Malmo, Sweden.

Monday:  This week’s Six Pack (SBS) feature is Piccolo Mondo – starring Peta Toppano, Victoria Longley, Denise Scott and Angelo D’Angelo – a comedy drama about three women who meet for lunch at an upmarket Italian restaurant to talk about marriage, infidelity and betrayal.

Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), William (Michael Craig) and Nick (guest star Paul Chubb, pictured), a morgue attendant, play a trick on a brash young medical student – but Nick is a little on edge and confides to William that he’s preoccupied with a personal problem – he’s impotent – but his girlfriend Alice (Wendy Strehlow, pictured) can’t understand why he won’t spend the night with her.  On Nine’s Chances, ‘70s sex symbol Abigail makes her series debut as outrageous sex therapist Bambi Shute, who enlists the help of advertising executive Angela (Patsy Stephen) to help her launch a new TV show, The Sex Show.  Logie-winning actress Tracy Mann guest stars in Nine’s All Together Now, appearing as an ex-girlfriend and singer from Bobby’s (Jon English) wild past.

Wednesday:  ABC presents the first instalment of two-part mini-series Children Of The Dragon – starring Bob Peck, Linda Cropper (pictured), Gary Sweet, Lily Chen and Wan Thye Leiw – set against the tumultuous events of China’s Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.

Thursday:  In Acropolis Now (Seven), pretending to be deaf, Jim (Nick Giannopoulos) overhears the others plotting to kill him.  Nine debuts its new travel series Getaway, featuring reporters Jeff Watson (formerly of Beyond 2000), David Reyne (The Flying Doctors), Anna McMahon (Eyewitness News, Brisbane With Anna McMahon) and Rebecca Harris with guest reporter, actress Rachel Ward.

Friday:  Late night sports coverage includes delayed coverage of the Winfield Cup (Nine) and the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge (Ten).

Saturday:  Ten crosses to the Melbourne Glasshouse for live coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge match between the North Melbourne Giants and the Canberra Cannons.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  9 May 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: April 5-11

On top of the world…!
A Country Practice star Kym Wilson and Chances star Jeremy Sims are in love and happy for the whole world to know.  “At the beginning, we decided that if there was speculation about us, it would be best not to hide it,” Wilson told TV Week.  “By being honest from the start, we felt people would respect us and leave us alone – which they generally have.”  Despite the pair working in separate cities – A Country Practice is based in Sydney and Chances in Melbourne – they commute on alternate weekends.  “Even if we were in the same city, living in the same house, probably the only time we’d see each other would be weekends, because of our heavy work schedules.”  However, the pair will be working together later this month with an appearance in the play Love Letters, on stage at the Sydney Opera House.

How Effie became drama queen
Growing up in the working-class Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford, Mary Coustas hardly seemed destined for an acting career.  But when the family moved to outer-suburban Doncaster – before, she insists, all the “wogs” moved out there – her outlook on life changed, performing in high school plays and musicals, and she credits her family for supporting her career choice.  “When I told them what I wanted to do with my life, they accepted it,” she told TV Week.  “I wasn’t talking about acting in terms of making lots of money, but entertaining people.  They saw that as healthy.”  Coustas, who plays Effie (pictured) in the sitcom Acropolis Now, is now performing her own stage show Waiting For Effie in Melbourne.  As well as Effie, the one-woman show also features Coustas as seven-year-old schoolgirl Libby, womaniser and compulsive gambler Vasili and overweight former schoolteacher Sophie.  “These characters have been in my head for four or five years.  But this is the biggest risk I’ve taken… I’ve lost half a stone in three weeks.”

Sixty soapie minutes!
A chance meeting between 60 Minutes reporter Jeff McMullen and E Street star Bruce Samazan has led to the current affairs reporter filing a story looking at the off-screen lives of some of Australia’s most popular soap stars.  McMullen visits recent Logie winner Samazan at his home in Wollongong to meet his family and old schoolfriends.  The story also features Home And Away stars Les Hill and Mat Stevenson and former E Street star Melissa Tkautz.  “Our story shows how these ‘wannabe-stars’ came from hard backgrounds, and looks at their chances of getting to Hollywood,” McMullen told TV Week.  “We had a lot of fun making this story.”

Briefly…
The producers of E Street have decided to continue with the controversial ‘Mr Bad’ serial killer storyline, even though the actor who plays the role, Vince Martin (pictured), has left the series.  A new actor will be cast in the role, but in the meantime Mr Bad is shown on screen to be in hospital with his head wrapped up in bandages!

Peter Ross, host of ABC’s Sunday Afternoon arts program, has told TV Week that only one person has refused an invitation to join him on the show – Graham Kennedy.  “He knocked us back in the kindest possible way,” Ross said.  “We usually have good access to artists.  We would have liked to talk to Graham about life and points arising.  He’s a great media figure, an interesting, one-off Australian.”

Comments that Steve Vizard (pictured) made on Logies night have stirred up a strong reaction in newspapers and talkback radio, but he is unapologetic.  “My style of humour is pretty much to take the ----, and I won’t change that for anyone.  If you don’t like it, then don’t watch,” he told TV Week.  But Vizard believes the press honed in on his comments in the absence of any real controversy.  “There was a slight need for a beat-up,” he said.  “The Gold Logie winner (Jana Wendt), to whom the press devoted so much space the morning after, wasn’t there.”

The cast departures from Nine’s Chances continue, with Tim Robertson, one of the show’s original cast members, and Molly Brumm now finished production with the series but will continue to be seen on-screen until May.  Their characters depart the show amid a drug-related disaster.  Brumm may return to the series at a later date, but Robertson’s departure is permanent.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”As the dust settles after the recent TV Week Logie Awards, yours truly was called upon to make one of his rare forays into another medium.  Actually, I quite enjoy the electric wireless… when I’m listening to it.  On this occasion I had to clear my throat and speak by phone to John Hindle and Brett McLeod, partners on a drive-time show on a Melbourne station.  These days, part of their show is Hindle’s daily “Letter to Mike”, a sometimes whimsical commentary on current events, read out in the form of a letter to a friend in London.  Just before my big moment on air, Mike was told about “television’s annual orgy of self-congratulation.. the star failed to appear… there was weeping and wailing and much gnashing of teeth” and so on.  This must have moved Mike somewhat because he wanted to know more and, through a friend of a friend, obtained a tape of the program.  Then he sat down and penned a reply.  It fell off the back of a Jumbo and was mistakenly opened by your correspondent.  I know I shouldn’t do this but…

“Dear John, Thanks for all your letters.  It’s a great comfort to this ex-pat to have constant reassurance that governments in Oz are going from bad to worse, England isn’t the only country in the world with an unemployment problem, and the Logie Awards are still going strong 34 years on.  I say “going strong” because I heard about the fantastic TV ratings.  Sort of blows out the water your mate’s statement about Channel Seven not being on a winner … You line up this bloke from TV Week, whatever his name is, and then hit him with a heap of negative stuff straight out of a Sunday paper.  Well, John, I suppose that’s okay, as long as you know the Sunday paper was accurate in the first place.  And that’s always a worry!  You both harangue the guy about the Logies, but then say that neither of you saw the show.  And your mate asks whether the absence of Jana Wendt resulted from the “fact” that it was “just another Gold Logie and she already had a couple, so why rush down?”  I heard him excuse himself after being told it was, in fact, Jana’s first Gold Logie, but he’d already hung himself by then.  But what really got me, John, was the way you both let the topic drop with the remark: “Who are we to judge?  We weren’t even invited.”  Is that what you really hated about the Logies?  Until next year, Mike.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, April 5-11):
Sunday:  Afternoon sport includes AFL on Seven, the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships on Nine and the Hong Kong 7’s Rugby Union on Ten.  Sunday night movies are Farewell To The King (Seven), Evil Angels (Nine) and Gorillas In The Mist (Ten).

Monday:  ABC presents the final episode of comedy series Gillies And Company.  Tonight Live With Steve Vizard (Seven) begins a week of shows presented live from London.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Amanda Keller looks at the treatment that is shocking heart attack victims back to health, Simon Reeve takes a ride in a vehicle that produces more horsepower or kilowatts than the entire field of the Adelaide Grand Prix, and Tracey Curro uses the latest visual technique in electronic conferencing. 

Wednesday:  Shane Bourne hosts the Comedy Festival Charity Gala (Seven), held at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre, featuring performances by The Golden Girls’ Bea Arthur and local comedians Rachel Berger, Mark Little, Mary Coustas, Bob Downe, Mark Mitchell, Nick Giannopoulos, Gina Riley (pictured) and Michael Veitch.  The ABC special Summer Country With James Blundell features highlights of this year’s Australian Made concert at the Festival of Sydney and the Salute to Tamworth concert at the Victorian Arts Centre.

Thursday:  The Seven Network special Crocodile Man features David Ireland, who shares his lifelong fascination with crocodiles, on a journey from the remote Kimberleys in Western Australia to the captive monsters on crocodile farms.  The one-hour documentary includes footage of crocodiles underwater and displaying behaviour never before seen on camera.  This is followed by the comedy special Dame Edna’s Hollywood, featuring Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries) with guests Cher, Bea Arthur, Jack Palance and Mel Gibson.  The show's highlight no doubt being Dame Edna and Cher performing I Got You, Babe.

Friday: Seven presents highlights of the AFL match between North Melbourne and Carlton played at the MCG.  Nine presents late-night motorcycling with highlights of the Australian 500cc Grand Prix practice, and Ten has delayed coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge match between the Brisbane Bullets and the Geelong Supercats.

Saturday:  Nine presents early morning coverage of the US Masters golf, live from Georgia.  ABC has highlights of the Winter Paralympics, followed by football (VFA) and netball.  Ten has live prime-time coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge match between Melbourne Tigers and Perth Wildcats from the National Tennis Centre.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  4 April 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: March 8-14

What an awesome foursome!
”I can’t believe I’m here,” says A Country Practice star Georgie Parker as she arrives for the TV Week photo shoot.  “I don’t even have my own show!”  TV Week has assembled Parker and her three Gold Logie co-nominees – Ray Martin, Jana Wendt and Steve Vizard – for a special front cover in the lead up to this week’s presentation of the 34th annual TV Week Logie Awards from the Radisson President Hotel, Melbourne.  The awards will be telecast on the Seven Network on Friday, 13 March.

TV Week Logie Awards nominations (Publicly voted categories):
Gold Logie: Ray Martin, Georgie Parker, Steve Vizard, Jana Wendt.  (1991 winner: Steve Vizard, pictured)

Most Popular Actor: Marcus Graham, Shane Porteous, Bruce Samazan, Gary Sweet. (1991 winner: Craig McLachlan)

Most Popular Actress: Rebekah Elmaloglou, Rebecca Gibney, Georgie Parker, Kate Raison. (1991 winner: Georgie Parker)

Most Popular Series: A Country Practice, E Street, Home And Away, The Flying Doctors. (1991 winner: Home And Away)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Program: All Together Now (pictured), Fast Forward, Hey Dad! (1991 winner: Fast Forward)

Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair, Hinch, 60 Minutes. (1991 winner: A Current Affair)

Most Popular Telemovie/Mini-Series: Brides Of Christ, Golden Fiddles, Which Way Home. (1991 winner: Jackaroo)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality (Male): Jon English, Daryl Somers, Steve Vizard (1991 winner: Steve Vizard)

Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality (Female): Rebecca Gibney, Julie McGregor, Magda Szubanski. (1991 winner: Magda Szubanski)

Most Popular Sports Coverage: AFL Grand Final, Cricket, Tennis. (1991 winner: Cricket)

Most Popular Children’s Program: Agro’s Cartoon Connection, Play School, The Bugs Bunny Show (1991 winner: Agro’s Cartoon Connection)

Most Popular Lifestyle/Information Program: Beyond 2000, Burke’s Backyard, What’s Cooking (1991 winner: Burke’s Backyard)

Most Popular New Talent: Matthew Krok (pictured), Jeremy Sims, Melissa Tkautz, Kym Wilson

Other public-voted awards: Most Popular Music Video, Most Popular Actor and Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-Series, Most Popular Program (for each state) and Most Popular Personality (for each state).

TV Week Logie Award categories (Industry voted):
Gold Logie – TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame, Most Outstanding Actor, Most Outstanding Actress, Most Outstanding Telemovie/Mini-Series, Most Outstanding Series, Most Outstanding Achievement in Public Affairs, Most Outstanding Achievement in News, Most Outstanding Single Documentary or Series, Most Outstanding Achievement by Regional Television.

Ramsay Street rush hour
In another attempt to bring the long-running Neighbours back to its former ratings glory, producers are ramping up the show’s storylines as well as writing out four cast members while signing up three new faces.  Lorraine Bayly, Jeremy Angerson, Andrew Williams and Gillian Blakeney are all leaving the show in coming weeks – while Ben Mitchell (pictured) and Felice Arena are joining the series, and former guest star Natalie Imbruglia is returning for an ongoing role.  Producer Don Battye is confident of re-signing Melissa Bell when her contract expires mid-year, despite moves to have her swap over to Ten’s other evening soap, E Street.  Veteran actor Tom Oliver has been re-signed with Neighbours, with plans to romantically match up his character Lou Carpenter to recently-widowed Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston).  Producers are also casting for two teenagers to enter the series as Carpenter’s children.  Another romantic storyline being devised by writers is set to involve Lucy Robinson (Melissa Bell) and Brad Willis (Scott Michaelson). 

Mike cops a new show
Mike Willesee is set to return to prime-time television on a regular basis, following his recent stint as fill-in host on A Current Affair.  The television veteran is about to sign a multi-million dollar with the Nine Network to produce a hard-hitting real-life police action series, described loosely as an Australian version of the American series Cops.  The new show is expected to be hosted by Willesee’s son, Michael Willesee Jnr, who is currently working in Los Angeles for Network Ten’s Hard Copy. 

Paradise is…
… warm tropical nights, a turquoise lagoon and beautiful half-naked girls wandering barefoot on white sands.  This exotic setting, on the island of Rarotonga, is the backdrop for the $2 million mini-series adaptation of Noel Barber’s epic novel The Other Side Of Paradise, being produced in a joint venture between Grundy Television, Central Films (UK) and South Pacific Films (NZ).  The series stars Jason Connery (son of Sean Connery) and newcomer Vivien Tan (pictured) and screens this week on Network Ten.

Briefly…
Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum has scored the only TV interview with Jason Donovan, who made a brief visit home only a few weeks ago.  However, Meldrum’s exclusive interview was made for Nine’s Melbourne Extra program, instead of his regular program, Hey Hey It’s Saturday.  Hey Hey host and producer Daryl Somers is said to have been less than impressed.

The Nine Network has spared no expense in trying to convince TV legend Graham Kennedy (pictured) to host a special to coincide with his upcoming 60th birthday.  Kennedy, last seen on TV on Nine’s recent 35 Years Of Television special, was flown by helicopter from his country property in southern NSW to Nine’s Sydney headquarters for a lavish lunch to celebrate his 58th birthday and Nine presented him with a rare book on horse breeding. 

The Seven Network has given the go-ahead for sitcom Bligh, from the producers of Fast Forward, but have passed on the producers’ other proposal, a comedy series set in a radio station.  Meanwhile, Fast Forward producers Steve Vizard and Andrew Knight are negotiating to stage a live version of Fast Forward, following the success of the stage adaptation of British series ‘Allo ‘Allo.

Hey Hey It’s Saturday duo John Blackman and Wilbur Wilde have been staging their own radio comeback since being dumped by Melbourne station 3UZ.  The pair have been taking their radio act to regional and remote parts of the country as short-term fill-ins on local radio stations.  So far they’ve been heard on local stations in Townsville and Launceston and places in between, and are already booked for future engagements in regional Victoria, NSW and Tasmania in coming months.  Although some of the shows are based at the radio stations’ local studios, most of their radio appearances have been via landline from studios in Melbourne.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Four of Australian television’s top names, from two networks and two cities… even five years ago, just the thought of trying to get them all to sit still in the one place at the one time would have been enough to make me shudder.  You only have to glance at this week’s cover for further proof – Ray Martin, Georgie Parker, Steve Vizard and Jana Wendt all in one photograph.  Read nothing into the order in which I’ve mentioned them, other than it is alphabetical.  They agreed to get together to promote the biggest night on the television industry’s calendar, the TV Week Logie Awards.  As far as I’m aware, it is the first time such a shoot – the four Gold Logie nominees together – has been set up.  It all happened in the space of an hour (on a Friday afternoon).  It had to.  Ray – not long after finishing another week of Midday for Nine – was committed to go to Canberra to attend a meeting of the Aboriginal Reconciliation Council, of which he is a member.  Georgie was due back on the set of A Country Practice… she was scheduled to shoot her final scenes as one of that series’ all-time favourite characters, Lucy Tyler.  And Jana was required back in the A Current Affair office to prepare to anchor that evening’s show.  Now, of course, the big question is which one of the four will be on the cover of TV Week’s 1992 Logie Awards souvenir issue.  The answer to that is under wraps until about 11.00pm on Friday, 13 March.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, March 8-14):
Sunday:  Seven presents live coverage of the Moomba Masters water skiing from Melbourne’s Yarra River, while Nine has World Cup cricket from Brisbane, and Ten has the Rugby Union Five Nations from Murrayfield, Scotland.  Sunday night movies are When Harry Met Sally (Seven) and The Dead Pool (Nine) up against the first instalment of two-part mini-series The Other Side Of Paradise (Ten).

Monday:  The 7.00pm battle between Home And Away and Neighbours, started back in January, comes to an end with Neighbours making the sudden move to the 6.30pm timeslot.  The shift sees Ten’s current affairs program Hinch take over at 7.00pm – the timeslot he previously held over at Seven – and US game show Studs move to 6.00pm.  Seven presents a two-hour concert special, Jimmy Barnes – Soul Deep, from the Palais Theatre, Melbourne, and featuring special guests John Farnham, Johnny Diesel and Ross Wilson.  The concert is simulcast with radio station Triple M.  Ten presents the conclusion to The Other Side Of Paradise.

Tuesday:  Former The Sullivans and Return To Eden star Megan Williams guest stars in All Together Now (Nine), playing the part of Julie, a beautiful electrician who captures the heart of Dougie (Garry Who).  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Andrew Carroll reports on the kissing bug – a disease affecting millions of people in Latin America, while Bryan Smith discovers a revolutionary design for artificial hips and Tracey Curro reports from the Tokyo Motor Show.  In Chances (Nine), Alex (Jeremy Sims) is shocked to finally learn the truth about his lost year.

Wednesday:  ABC presents a 90-minute special, La Stupenda, a unique portrayal of Dame Joan Sutherland combining interviews, archival footage and performances.  Dame Joan and her husband Richard Bonynge talk about their life in opera, while close friends and colleagues reminisce about Sutherland’s remarkable career spanning 42 years.

Thursday:  In Acropolis Now (Seven), when Memo (George Kapiniaris) is drafted into the Greek Army, Jim (Nick Giannopoulos) turns the cafe into Camp Acropolis.  ABC presents the final of the four-part documentary series When The War Came To Australia.

Friday:   The Seven Network presents the 34th annual TV Week Logie Awards, live from the Radisson President Hotel, Melbourne.  Special international guests include John Stamos, Dennis Waterman and Diana Ross joining local stars including Steve Vizard, Jana Wendt, Ray Martin, Daryl Somers, Jo Bailey, Mary Coustas, Nicolle Dickson, Nick Giannopoulos, Rebecca Gibney, Elizabeth Hayes, Sophie Lee, Gina Riley, Bruce Samazan, Jennifer Keyte, Magda Szubanski and Kym Wilson.  The night culminates with the announcement of the winner of the TV Week Gold Logie for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television.  The awards presentation is followed by a special post-Logies edition of Tonight Live, hosted by Richard Stubbs.

Saturday:  ABC debuts current affairs program Foreign Correspondent, hosted by George Negus, taking a look at the news behind some of the week’s major world events, including reports from correspondents around the world.  Seven presents live coverage of the AFL Foster’s Cup Grand Final, hosted by Bruce McAvaney, while Ten has delayed coverage of the National Basketball League’s K-Mart Australian Classic.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  7 March 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: March 1-7

State of shock!
Unlike most young Australian actors, E Street star Bruce Samazan (pictured) is in no hurry to work in the US – in fact he has no plans to ever visit there again.  Making his first trip to the US, staying with friends in Texas during a production break for E Street, Samazan cut short his two-week visit and made a dash back to Sydney, admitting that the place “freaked” him out.  “There’s gang warfare over there that I can’t grab a hold of… it’s chaotic,” he told TV Week.  “It’s totally unnatural for an Australian to go over there and adjust to the fact that if you wear the wrong coloured baseball cap or T-shirt, you might be shot at.”  On one occasion he went to put on a Los Angeles Raiders cap but was advised by his local friend, “Bruce I wouldn’t wear that.  You could get yourself into trouble – you might get shot at”.  Then, two days later, a local newspaper carried the headline ‘Two Youths Shot Dead Outside Nightclub’… for wearing LA Raiders outfits.  “That was pretty scary stuff,” Samazan said.

It’s goodbye to the Valley!
A Country Practice viewers will soon bid farewell to three of the show’s most popular characters.  Gordon Piper (who plays Bob Hatfield), Syd Heylen (Cookie) and Matt Day (Luke) will be making their final appearances on screen in the coming weeks.  For Day, leaving the series has come at the right time.  “The character is now rounded off and I feel he has gone as far as he can for me,” he told TV Week.  “Theatre is the next avenue I wish to explore.  I want to steer clear of TV for a while.”  Showbiz veteran Heylen leaves the show with happy memories.  “I’ve made a lot of good friends,” he said.  “The series kept me before a broad audience, which you don’t get to cover doing live work.  It has been a happy period.”  And although Piper is adamant that he won’t be returning to A Country Practice, he and Heylen (both pictured) will be making a guest appearance in two episodes later in the year in a storyline which sees Cookie return to hospital. 

New doctors set for take-off
The Nine Network drama The Flying Doctors is set for a major revamp as production starts soon on its tenth series.  In a major shake-up for the series, the series will now be based in Broken Hill (the real-life base of the Royal Flying Doctor Service) rather than the fictional Coopers Crossing, and the only familiar cast members making the move to the new location will be husband-and-wife team Maurie Fields and Val Jellay (pictured) and Sophie Lee.  And joining the new-look series will be Simone Buchanan (Hey Dad!), Peter Phelps (who has just returned from the US where he featured in Baywatch), Steve Jacobs (Rose Against The Odds) and Lydia Miller.  The new-look series is scheduled to debut on Nine around mid-year.

Briefly…
Neighbours’ Blakeney twins, Gayle and Gillian, are about to ‘split up’.  Gillian, who plays Caroline Alessi, will be taping her final scenes in the Network Ten series this week.  “While I love the character and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself on the show, I feel it is time to move on as an actor,” she told TV Week.  Meanwhile, Gayle is contracted to the show until July and will then assess her options before making any decision about her future.  But while the pair will no longer be working together on Neighbours, they will be working together again in London next month as they record their next single which is due for release in Australia later this year. 

Sydney’s Botanic Gardens, with views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, is the location for the latest TV soapie wedding – but it is unlikely to ever appear on Australian screens.  The British TV series Families, which stars Briony Behets (the British-born actress best known for her roles in Aussie dramas Number 96 and The Box), is filmed between Manchester and Sydney… but so far the series is yet to be sold to an Australian network.  The series’ wedding is between Behets’ character Diana Stephens and cafe owner Anton Vaughn (Rhett Walton).

The patchy relationship between the local producers of the Network Ten tabloid current affairs show Hard Copy and Paramount, who own the US-based format, continues.  But executive producer Peter Sutton isn’t concerned as he said there are plenty of other sources for content if the plug is pulled on being able to grab stories from the US version, but concedes that the show may have to change its name – with Fast Copy or Australia’s Hard Copy cited as possibilities.

Actress Melissa Bell (pictured) is currently caught in a battle between Network Ten’s two soapies.  Melbourne-based Neighbours’ producers are keen to renew Bell’s contract when it expires mid-year, but Bell wants to move back to Sydney-based E Street where she once had a brief role – due in part to her current off-screen interstate relationship with the son of E Street producer Forrest Redlich.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Fat Cat has been banished from our screens in one of the most profound decisions made in the history of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal.  The tubby tom’s character was deemed “still not clearly defined” and his show was accused of having “still generally poor” direction.  It took 15 years for someone to reach this momentous decision, years in which the lives of whole generations of Australian children must have been corrupted irreparably.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, March 1-7):
Sunday:  Nine crosses to Brisbane for the Benson And Hedges World Cup match between Australia and India.  Seven has motor racing with coverage of the Nascar/Auscar Nationals from Calder Park, Melbourne.  Meanwhile, ABC’s Sunday Afternoon With Peter Ross is back with a collection of arts-themed programming and interviews.  Sunday night movies are Shirley Valentine (Nine), Die Hard 2: Die Harder (Ten) and the Japanese comedy Tampopo (SBS), up against Seven’s debut of mini-series Prime Suspect.

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Luke (Matt Day) and Darcy (Kym Wilson) meet Douglas ‘Simmo’ Simmonds (Richard Moir), a crippled Vietnam pilot who revives Luke’s dreams of flying.  In Neighbours (Ten), an accident puts Helen’s (Anne Haddy) life at risk – while in Mother And Son (ABC), Maggie (Ruth Cracknell) remembers a clock that her late husband Leo gave her on their 25th wedding anniversary as she takes one from the house across the street.

Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), Robert (John McTernan) is acting strangely and decides to be a medico on an Antarctic expedition – until he reveals he has a tragic illness.  Beyond 2000 (Seven) reports on mankind’s most ambitious project yet – human habitation on Mars, while reporter Tracey Curro test drives the world’s first car in a suitcase.

Wednesday:  ABC presents a one-hour special, Cop It Sweet, taking a look at Sydney’s inner-city Redfern Police Station, in an area with a history of clashes between police and Aborigines, making it one of the most controversial police districts in the country.  Nine crosses to the Sydney Cricket Ground for day-night coverage of the Benson And Hedges World Cup match between India and Pakistan.

Thursday:  More World Cup cricket from Sydney on Nine, this time the match between Australia and England.  In Acropolis Now (Seven), Effie (Mary Coustas) arranges a party for Sophie’s (Sheryl Munks) 21st birthday at Vibrations Disco. 

Friday:  Seven presents live coverage of the semi-final of the AFL Foster’s Cup, with commentators Bruce McAvaney, Peter McKenna, Don Scott, Gerard Healy and Bernie Quinlan.  The ARIA Awards (Nine) are telecast for the first time, live from Melbourne’s World Congress Centre, and hosted by Richard Wilkins and Julian Lennon, with appearances by John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Jenny Morris, Noiseworks, Diesel, Wendy Matthews, Margaret Urlich, Rockmelons, Sophie Lee, Craig McLachlan, Dannii Minogue and international artists Diana Ross, Rod Stewart and Harry Connick Jnr. 

Saturday:  The Seven Network presents an all-day telethon to raise financial support for the Australian team to compete at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.  The Olympathon starts at 7.00am, including special editions of Saturday Disney and Video Smash Hits, followed by live crosses around Australia for interviews with some of Australia’s Olympic hopefuls.  The evening telecast includes a night of entertainment featuring the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Phantom Of The Opera stars Marina Prior and Rob Guest (both pictured with Seven’s Bruce McAvaney), Julie Anthony, Grace Knight, Craig McLachlan, Vanetta Fields, Judith Durham, Simon Gallaher, Don Burrows and Peter Cupples.  The telethon concludes at midnight.  Nine presents all-day coverage of the Benson And Hedges World Cup cricket from Adelaide. 

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  29 February 1992.  Southdown Press

1992: February 15-22

Just 18… and Kym’s got it all!
She might be only 18 years old, but Kym Wilson (pictured) has emerged from an acting novice to a talented professional, with acclaim for her performances in the film Flirting, stage production The Crucible and mini-series Brides Of Christ.  And she is optimistic that her decision to join A Country Practice is a positive career move.  “You have to choose roles that are going to fulfil you,” she told TV Week.  “That is why I chose A Country Practice as the soap I wanted to do.  It has been going for 10 years, the people I work with are fantastic actors and it has that extra dimension by dealing with issues in society, which perhaps the other soaps do not do.”  The young star has also taken on an additional on-air role as co-host of Seven’s Saturday morning Video Smash Hits, although is wary of becoming over-exposed or being pigeonholed as a “personality” rather than an actress.  “That was my concern when I chose to do Video Smash Hits – that I wouldn’t, without degrading Sophie, become another Sophie Lee, who is seen more as a TV personality than an actress because she did The Bugs Bunny Show before she did The Flying Doctors.”

Axe for Hard Copy?
It may be a ratings winner for the Ten Network, but its weekly “tabloid” current affairs show Hard Copy (hosted by Gordon Elliott, pictured) could soon be axed due to a falling out between the network and Paramount, the owners of the concept.  Paramount is believed to have notified Ten that it wants out of the deal when the current batch of 13 episodes is completed, due to Ten failing to comply with certain changes that had been requested of the Australian franchise.  The termination of the agreement would mean that the show’s title can not be used in Australia, or that any  reports from the US version can be broadcast here.  But Network Ten boss Gary Rice has denied any rift with Paramount and insists that production of Hard Copy is business as usual.     

Frozen out!
E Street star Alyssa-Jane Cook (pictured) always insisted that she wanted her exit from the show to be dramatic, but admits that her final scenes with the series have been her most challenging.  Her character, Lisa Bennett, finds herself at the mercy of E Street’s serial killer Mr Bad (Vince Martin) who has kidnapped her and locked her in a freezer in a bid to lure his targets Sheridan (Kate Raison) and Wheels (Marcus Graham) to their deaths.  Cook is not about to give away the outcome of the storyline, but says the scenes were amongst her most difficult.  “By the end of the 14-hour shoot, I was emotionally and physically exhausted,” she said.

Briefly…
TV Week has announced a new era as it embarks on changes to production techniques and its format.  This week’s edition includes a special eight-day program guide – Saturday to Saturday – as from next week the magazine will feature program listings from Sunday to Saturday, while the magazine’s on-sale day will change from Monday to Thursday.  This change, incorporated with tighter production deadlines, will see the magazine report more up-to-date stories and offer a more accurate program listing.  Despite the changes, the cover price of TV Week will remain at $1.70.

All Together Now star Rebecca Gibney has broken her silence on her private life by denying reports that while on a three-week holiday to the United States that she and her fiance, singer Jack Jones, had been secretly married in a Las Vegas chapel.  “Marriage crossed our minds at some point, but we decided against it,” she told TV Week.  “But we haven’t run off to Las Vegas to have a quickie wedding.”

Former The Flying Doctors cast members Lenore Smith and David Reyne (pictured) have embarked on a new project, appearing in the stage production of Love Letters which begins at the Sydney Opera House before touring regional centres in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.  Reyne has also started work on a new travel series, Getaway, for the Nine Network.  Getaway, which also features former Beyond 2000 reporter Jeff Watson and two yet-to-be-named female reporters, makes its debut on Nine next month.

John Laws says…
”Perhaps, as a nation, we should all have been watching the documentary about the Snowy Mountain hydro-electric project, aptly screened over the Australia Day weekend on the ABC.  By any standards the Snowy project was a heroic undertaking, in both engineering and human terms.  It took 25 years to complete and it ranks as one of this nation’s greatest achievements.  Here was a mammoth engineering feat brought to life by Australians and “new” Australians from Europe, most of them displaced persons from World War II.  The ABC documentary team interviewed a handful of the thousands of people who worked on the Snowy project, but their stories seemed to embrace all its spirit and courage.  Interestingly, the general feeling among them was that a scheme like the Snowy could never be built today.  Way back in 1949, when Ben Chifley’s government got it off the ground, there was no conservation movement!”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, February 15-22):
Saturday:  Saturday afternoon sport includes golf on both ABC (West Australian Ladies’ Classic) and Seven (Australian Masters), while Nine presents a highlights package of the Winter Olympic Games.  Nine’s evening is dominated by the return of Hey Hey It’s Saturday, followed by more live coverage of the Winter Olympic Games from Albertville, France.

Sunday:  More golf on ABC and Seven, while Nine presents highlights of the Reebok Blacktop Basketball, from Adelaide’s Clipsal Powerhouse Stadium.  Evening programs include the return of multi-lingual current affairs program Vox Populi (SBS) and Brian Naylor’s documentary Australia From The Outside Looking In (Nine).  Sunday night movies are Good Morning Vietnam (Seven) and K-9 (Ten), up against the Winter Olympics (Nine).

Monday:  In Mother And Son (ABC), Arthur (Garry McDonald) brings a pet budgie home for Maggie (Ruth Cracknell) after she is upset by her son Robert (Henri Szeps) – but how this leads to 10 naked dentists dancing on a golf course has to be seen to be believed! 

Tuesday:  ABC’s consumer affairs program The Investigators is back for another year, followed by drama series GP where a new locum (played by Christopher Bailey) arrives at the practice, only to have his wife turn up and reveal that he is not who he says he is.  In SBS’ current affairs program Dateline, reporter Maeve O’Meara profiles influential Irish writer Colm Tóibín.

Wednesday:  Astrophysicist Graham Phillips and journalist Cathy Johnson join ABC’s science program Quantum as it returns for its eighth year.  This year is the International Year of Space and, to mark the occasion, Quantum will begin a series of reports on everything from space junk to space technology.  The 40th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne is documented in a two-hour BBC special, Elizabeth R (ABC), following the Queen on her many official duties over 12 months and giving a rare glimpse of her more informal moments.

Thursday:  In Acropolis Now (Seven), Effie (Mary Coustas, pictured) suspects Suzanne (Nicky Wendt) of treachery and plots her revenge – murder by haircare products.  ABC’s documentary series The Big Picture presents When The War Came To Australia – Our Melancholy Duty, the first of a four-part series tracing the social history of Australia during World War II and the effects of Japan’s attack on Darwin, which occurred fifty years ago this week.

Friday:  Dateline (SBS) features a report on Simone Harvari, France’s top TV producer, who heads a company where the majority of employees are female.  In Neighbours (Ten), a reunion with old mates has devastating implications for Doug (Terence Donovan).

Saturday:  Nine debuts its new Saturday morning show, Saturday At Rick’s, hosted by Steven Jacobs with Tania Lacy, featuring cartoons, video clips and interviews.  Nine then crosses to New Zealand for the Benson And Hedges World Cup cricket – Australia versus New Zealand.  ABC also has cricket with live coverage from the North Sydney Oval of the Ladies’ International Super Test: Australia versus England.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  15 February 1992.  Southdown Press

1992: February 8-14

‘Don’t call me Betty!’
While Hey Dad! star Julie McGregor (pictured, centre, with co-star Rachael Beck) loves playing the role of ditzy secretary Betty Wilson in the long-running sitcom (“I’m not sure that there is anything around that would be as rewarding to do,” she says) don’t ask her to “do a Betty” when she’s not working.  When McGregor leaves the studio after a taping, she leaves Betty behind in the prop cupboard.  “You just shut off, put the toys away, and you come home,” she told TV Week.  “Of course, every now and then you say something and you think, ‘Oh gosh, that sounded like Betty’.”  In the series’ return to air this week, Betty’s old boyfriend Stan (Bill Young) is looking for work, but his potential new employer sparks a brawl when he makes some less than polite remarks about Betty.  The punch-up is not shown on screen, but it’s the talk of the Hey Dad! household.

Gay murder rocks GP
ABC’s medical drama GP makes a controversial return to screens this week with scenes depicting graphic violence and a storyline surrounding a gay bashing and murder.  Simon Radley (Felix Nobis) joins the Ross Street practice as a locum and possible replacement for Dr Nicola Tanner (Judy McIntosh) – but after work hours he frequents gay bars looking for sex, while his partner David Robinson (Scott Burgess) is keeping the home fires burning.  A vicious assault on Dr Radley is witnessed by Dr William Sharp (Michael Craig), who identifies one of the culprits in a police line-up.  A second attack on Dr Radley leaves him beaten to death.  “It’s pretty heavy stuff,” Burgess told TV Week.  “Simon and David share a house, but while Simon is driven by his urges to seek clandestine sex, David is settled and stable.  The story is as much about their private dilemma as it is about the prejudice that gay people who live in the city have to face – being supposedly different from everybody else.” 

When will the killings stop?
Has E Street’s serial killer storyline gone too far?  While insiders at the Ten Network claims that the ongoing storyline has boosted ratings, what effect does having a sustained storyline based on murder and having a deranged killer as the focal point have on the viewer – and is it appropriate for a 7.30pm timeslot?  Although the actor who plays the character of serial killer Steven Richardson, Vince Martin (pictured), is concerned that “there was perhaps too much killing… and I still feel this is the case because there are more deaths to go to air”, the show’s producer Forrest Redlich defends the storyline as “just storytelling”.  “I’ve got the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal’s code on violence,” he says.  “We have to stick to the letter of the law and we are doing that.  When you look at how the story is presented, it isn’t a violent storyline.  You don’t see a lot of violence in it when the murders are taking place.  I just think it’s basically about storytelling and working within the tribunal guidelines.”   Pat Manser of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal has expressed concern over the material being depicted but stresses that viewers do not have to just accept what is presented to them.  “The best method of attack is to go straight to the station, because the stations are quite sensitive to public criticism,” she says.  “If they get more criticism than pats on the back, they will do something about it.”

Briefly…
Jacki MacDonald (pictured) has described her new Network Ten show Healthy Wealthy And Wise as “a show that’s not really like anything else” and, after a decade as the funny girl on Hey Hey It’s Saturday and a year as host of Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show, is excited at the prospect at doing “something serious” for a change.  “In this show I’m not zany, silly or crazy,” she said.  “We all enjoy ourselves, laugh and have a good time – but it’s not a format for outrageous antics.”  Healthy Wealthy And Wise, which also features Ronnie Burns as co-host, is produced by former Hey Hey It’s Saturday co-producer Gavan Disney.  Although the show has only just debuted on Network Ten, it has already been sold for screening in New Zealand, Singapore and Papua New Guinea.

After six years of reading the news for ABC in Victoria, Mary Delahunty (pictured) is returning to current affairs television as she takes over as host of the Victorian edition of The 7.30 Report – replacing John Jost who has left the ABC to join the Nine Network as host of its new Melbourne Extra current affairs program.  Ian Henderson, a former European correspondent for the ABC, has taken over as newsreader for the 7.00pm ABC News in Victoria.

Mike Hammond, the former host of Ten’s Star Search and now the sole host of Good Morning Australia, is enthusiastic about the breakfast show’s new format.  “It has a totally new look, and a new format which is a world first.  Breakfast television has never before recognised the fact that daily routines don’t allow you extended periods of time to sit in front of the box watching long interviews.  Our new program informs you while you get ready to start your day.  If you want to compare us to Today, we still offer more news and weather, more financial news, more politics and sport, and more relevant stories.  And in what is probably a television first, there is up-to-the-minute traffic information as well.”

Former Quantum reporter Andrew Waterworth (pictured) has moved to the Seven Network as a reporter for Beyond 2000.  “I was with Quantum for five years and I put a lot into the show,” he told TV Week.  “But you get to a point in your life where you feel you would like a change.”

John Laws says…
”Whether Seven’s Real Life is going to offer any serious long-term problems to Jana Wendt’s A Current Affair on Nine is yet to be assessed, though the early signs are that ACA will be the toughest of nuts to crack.  Real Life’s problem may be that it has hyped itself up as being completely different to the current affairs shows we have become accustomed to – and this, as any viewer will tell (producer) Gerald Stone, is a load of old cobblers.  Real Life is a mixture of everything – a sort of mini-version of 60 Minutes, with shades of ACA and The 7.30 Report thrown in for good measure.  It really can’t be anything else.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, February 8-14):
Saturday:  Nine presents a two-hour preview of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, hosted by Ken Sutcliffe, taking a look at the behind-the-scenes preparations and focusing on the Games venues and competitions as well as the Australian team.  On Seven, AFL is back for the new year with its pre-season competition, the Foster’s Cup, live from AFL Park, Waverley.

Sunday:  The first day of ratings for 1992 – and Nine’s current affairs line-up of Business Sunday, Sunday and the evening 60 Minutes are back for another year.  Seven crosses to Darwin for live coverage of the afternoon match between Collingwood and the West Coast Eagles for the AFL Foster’s Cup.  Sunday night movies are Air America (Seven) and The ‘Burbs (Ten), while Nine presents live coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games from Albertville, France.

Monday:  Nine’s regular daytime line-up is back for the new year – with In Melbourne Today, What’s Cooking and Midday With Ray Martin all returning.  At 5.00pm, Nine launches its new game show Supermarket Sweep, hosted by Ian Turpie, followed by the debut of Melbourne Extra, with John Jost (pictured) presenting local current affairs as the lead-in to National Nine News.  Sale Of The Century (Nine) returns for another year at 7.00pm, while ABC launches a new series of comedy Mother And Son at 8.00pm.  Stuart Littlemore’s Media Watch is also back for the new year, at 9.15pm on ABC.  Nine starts its routine coverage of the Winter Olympic Games, hosted by Ken Sutcliffe, with over four hours of coverage each night from 8.30pm.

Tuesday:  The return of ABC’s medical drama GP focuses on the gay bashing of the new doctor at the Ross Street surgery.

Wednesday:  Seven presents live coverage of the AFL Foster’s Cup match between Geelong and St Kilda from AFL Park, Waverley.  In E Street (Ten), Alice (Marianne Howard) and Penny (Josephine Mitchell) try to cope with their new business venture – meanwhile someone else in the neighbourhood receives a surprise visit from Steven Richardson (Vince Martin).

Thursday:  Seven begins four days of coverage of the Australian Masters golf, live from Huntingdale, Melbourne.  In the evening, sitcom Acropolis Now (Seven) returns, while ABC presents a movie-length debut of its new police drama Phoenix, starring Paul Sonkkila, Simon Westaway, Nell Feeney, Sean Scully and Andy Anderson.

Friday:  Burke’s Backyard (Nine) is back for another year, hosted by Don Burke with presenters Peter Harris, Dr Harry Cooper and Densey Clyne.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  8 February 1992.  Southdown Press

Geoffrey Rush – our Australian of the Year

Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush (pictured) was last night announced as our Australian of the Year in recognition of his contribution to the arts.

The 60-year-old, who this year celebrates 40 years in the industry, gained international fame in 1996 for his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in the movie Shine which led to him winning the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Despite much of Rush’s acting work being in the theatre and on film, the Queensland-born actor has also worked in television.  He made his TV acting debut in the ABC mini-series Menotti in 1981.

He later appeared in Twisted Tales and played the lead role of newspaper editor Bill Wyatt in the 1996 series Mercury.

Rush also made a guest appearance in Kath And Kim in 2004.

Also on this Australia Day, a number of television identities were among the hundreds recognised in this year’s Australia Day honours list:

Maggie Beer – “For service to the tourism and hospitality industries as a cook, restaurateur and author, and to the promotion of Australian produce and cuisine.”  Beer was a co-presenter on the popular ABC series The Cook And The Chef for five years and has also been a regular guest on MasterChef Australia.

Jamie Durie – “For service to the community as an ambassador and supporter of a range of charitable and environmental organisations, and as a landscape designer.”  Durie came to national fame as the presenter of Backyard Blitz and The Block.  He has more recently appeared on the Seven Network’s The Outdoor Room and gained international fame when he caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey.

Gus Mercurio (posthumously) – “For service to boxing as an administrator and sports commentator, as a film, television and stage actor, and to the community.”  Mercurio appeared in numerous television series over his career, including period dramas Cash And Company, The Sullivans, Power Without Glory, Tandarra, Five Mile Creek and All The Rivers Run, and was a boxing commentator for 12 years.

Oscar Whitbread – “For service to the Australian film and television industry.”  Whitbread has been a television producer since the 1960s, working on ABC dramas including Bellbird, Marion, And The Big Men Fly, Power Without Glory, Rush, Catspaw, The Truckies, Outbreak Of Love and I Can Jump Puddles.  He later worked on The Flying Doctors, Ratbag Hero, Cluedo and Acropolis Now.

Source: ABC, Governor-General of Australia, IMDB, IMDB.